Now I see you
by Potterhead896
Summary: Post Puppeteer 2. Marinette took Adrien's confession pretty hard, and when Chat noir becomes her source of comfort, the kitty proves to be a more important part of her live than she had ever thought. This could cause the whole love-square to be turned around. Mostly Adrinette and Marichat. UPDATED! ;)
1. An unexpected guest

She was avoiding him.

Adrien could be completely clueless about what went wrong during his conversation with Marinette in the car, but he was sure that she'd been avoiding him for a whole week now, it was pretty obvious. If it wasn't true what Nino said about her not wanting to be alone with him, it sure was now. Every time Adrien and Nino approached to Marinette and Alya, she fleed with a highly questionable excuse. She even avoided eye contact like her life depended on it.

"Dude, what have you done to Mari?" Nino asked. "Everything alright?"

"I don't know" he answered, "Everuthing was going fine and the next thing I know is she's running away from me."

Adrien was hurt, but most of all confused. He was walking back and forth endlessly in his room, his mind stucked in Marinette and the events in the museum.

"Kid, you're giving me a serious headache, stop pacing around like that." Plagg said from his bed while eating a slice of Camembert.

"Sorry, Plagg" he apologised and sat on the couch. "It's just that I don't understand."

"Are we still talking about Marinette and the museum?" Plagg asked rolling his eyes. '_This kid is helpless_. _Seriously._' he thought.

"Yes, we are."

"Okay, so Marinette doesn't want to talk to you, what's the big deal? Why is it so important? It's not like you haven't got any other girls craving for you." Plagg asked, hoping his completely clueless holder would see the light.

"Craving for me? No, Marinette is just a friend." He dismissed Plagg's comment.

_'Kill me now' _Plagg was screaming internally.

"It's just that she is imporant to me." Adrien continued, "Even when we didn't have the best start, she's always been there for me."

Plagg didn't seem really interested in what he was saying, so Adrien explained excited, "Look, Marinette is amazing: she's smart, funny, kind, always willing to help others and.." His excitement disappeared and was replaced by sadness. "And the fact that I might have lost her friendship terrifies me."

That really got to Plagg. He had always been the easygoing kwami. Tikki was the one who dealt well with _feelings_ and that stuff. But still, he cared about Adrien and wanted him to be happy.

"Well, if you want to know what's in her head you could just ask her." Plagg said.

"Haven't you been listening to me? That's what I've been trying to do all week and she wouldn't even aknowledge me." He answered.

"It's Adrien she doesn't want to talk to, but what about Chat noir?" Adrien hadn't considered that, it could be a good idea.

"You say I go talk to her as Chat noir?"

"Yeah, why not? She trusts chat."

Adrien didn't seemed very convinced though. Plagg sighed heavily, if he wanted this teenage drama to be over any time soon, this two would need a little push. Maybe more than little.

"Come on, why are you hesitating?" Plagg asked, "You want to make things right with her, right?"

"Yes." Adrien answered, still hesitant. "But..."

"No buts." Plagg cut him mid-sentence, "You're going to talk to her tonight."

His kwami's encouragement seemed to give Adrien the determination he needed. _'Finally' _Plagg thought, _'Maybe this will be the day.'_"Now, give me another piece of Camembert, I'm hungry."

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

"It's been a week Marinette." Tikki said to his holder, who was laying in bed, covering her face with a pillow. "You can't avoid him forever." Marinette rolled to hed side, facing the photos of Adrien on her wall.

"I know, Tikki. I've tried, I really have." Marinette answered. "It's just that I don't think I'm ready to face him yet."

She felt Adrien's confession about being in love with someone else had broke her heart. She was hurt, very deeply. But she couldn't blame him for it, it wasn't his fault, and she felt terrible because now he probably thought he'd done something wrong to make her upset.

Sadness, heartbreak, anger, guilt. The rollercoaster of emotions was too overwhelming, and Adrien was in the center of all of it. She got up and climbed to her balcony, thinking that maybe some fresh air and watching the stars for a while would help her clear her mind.

She sat on a chair, with a blanket over her shoulders and enjoyed the view. Paris at night was beautiful.

She was having a peaceful moment, until suddenly, someone unexpected landed on her rooftop.


	2. A night with you

"Chat noir?"

"Hello, Marinette." The superhero greeted her with a smile.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was passing by and I thought, why not pay a visit to my favorite civilian?" He said playfully. Marinette semmed confused though. "Also because you are sitting in the cold, alone, looking miserable." He added in a soft tone. "Is everything okay?"

Marinette was amazed that Chat noir had stopped by just because he saw her sad, to make sure she was fine. She knew he was loyal, a good partner and a good friend to Ladybug, but she never thought she could also be those things for her as Marinette. They'd known each other for years now, and her kitty never ceased to amaze her, she was grateful she could call him a friend.

"Yeah, I'm okay Chat, thanks for worrying." She said, "I'll be fine."

"Can I sit?" He asked, pointing the other chair in front of her. She nodded. "Why don't you tell me what's going on?"

She looked at him for a moment, probably considering if she could confide him with her problems or not. She sighed, and started talking.

"Just... love problems again." She said. He waited for her to continue. "The boy I love is in love with someone else."

Adrien tensed up, she couldn't be talking ahout him... could she?

"Did he...did he tell you that?"

"Yes." She said, looking at her feet.

"I'm sorry, Princess." Chat said, "But nobody can choose who they fall for, it just happens."

"It's not that. It's me."

"What do you mean?" Chat asked, confused.

"You're right, it's not his fault. How could I blame him? How could I expect him to feel something for me when I get so nervous around him that I always end up making a fool of myself?" Her face fell, and Chat felt his heart break.

"I stutter and I slip and I speak complete nonsense..." She continued, and as she was getting more upset, until her eyes went wattery. "And now I can't even gather the courage to face him." A single tear ran down hef cheek and she turned away from Chat noir, trying to hide it.

So Marinette loved him. Adrien. He felt so guilty that she'd spent all this time feeling like this and he hadn't noticed. He reached out and gently wiped the tear out, caressing her cheek.

"Marinette, look at me." She turned to face him again, her blue eyes shining with tears. "When you love someone, you don't feel nervous or uncomfortable." He started, "You just talk, and you smile, and you laugh, without the slightest fear of being exactly who you are. It has no logic, no explanation, you just feel in your heart that is right." He smiled softly, "And when you're with that special person, you feel at home."

Marinette was staring at him, as if she was seeing him for the first time. Maybe she was.

How could she not notice, in all the time she'd known him, that her partner was so wise and sensible?

As for chat noir, he had spoke from his heart. After all, he knew how wrecking it was to love someone who didn't love you back. Still, he used everything he felt for ladybug to find the words to comfort Marinette.

"So cheer up, princess." He continued, "Maybe he is not the one. But I don't have a single doubt you deserve to be loved the way you love."

Marinette smiled shyly, no more tears in her eyes, and chat knew his job was done.

"Well, I'll leave you to rest." He said, standing up. "Don't stay outside too long or you'll catch a cold. Until the next time, Marinette." He said, winking. As he was about to jump to the next roof, he felt Marinette's grip around his wrist. He turned to look at her.

She leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, kitty."

He smiled, "Anytime."

From the rooftop of the next building he gave a last look at her from afar, touched the spot where her lips had touched, and then disappeared into the night.

... ... ... ... ...

_Author's note: Hi! This is my first fic for the Mlb fandom, I already have some ideas to continue it but I would really appreciate your feedback!_

_TO BE CONTINUED_


	3. Another visit

The next day, Marinette didn't go to school. Adrien kept staring at the door for most of the first period, thinking that maybe she was just running late. But she didn't come.

He tried to focus on the class but failed miserably. When he got home, he was finally able to voice his thoughts, to Plagg's dismay.

He was worried that he might have said something wrong last night, something that might have upset Marinette enough to not want to go to school. So, after several eye rolls and facepalms from Plagg, they both agreed that there was only one thing to do.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

"Are you sure about this?" Tikki asked Marinette, who was sitting on her bed with a serious expression.

"Yes" She answered, then reached out and started taking Adrien's pictures out of her wall.

Tikki was proud of her, this kind of choices required courage and determination, but it was sad too.

It was hard to watch this game of push and pull between the two of them, especially when Tikki knew who Chat noir really was. She knew it was a fact that they would eventually find out each other's identities, but until then, it was painful to keep the secret while Marinette was suffering.

When Marinette was done removing the pictures, she caressed them lovingly and placed them on her desk. She sighed heavily and turned to face Tikki.

"Well, why don't we go get you some cookies Tikki?" Just as Marinette was about to go to the kitchen, she heard a tap on her window, and was shocked to see Chat noir looking at her from the other side. Tikki hid quickly, it seemed like Chat hadn't noticed her because he smiled at Marinette and pointed up, to the balcony.

"Hey, Mari." Chat said, as Marinette came to meet him. "You seemed pretty shaken yesterday, so I just came to check on you. Feeling better?."

She smiled, gratefeul for chat's concern.

"Yes chat, thank you." She said, "You actually left me thinking a lot, and I think you gave me the little push I needed to...let go."

Adrien was thrown back a little. Even if it wasn't his inttention, he'd basically, indirectly turned her down last night. He didn't want Marinette to suffer for him the way he suffered for Ladybug. Still, it hurted him a little.

"Does it mean you are gking to give up?" He asked, sadly.

"It's not about giving up, it's about moving on." She said, "I'll always care about him. He is a wonderful person, he deserves to be happy with whoever he loves, and I'm just glad I can call him my friend."

Chat smiled, Marinette was always surprising him. "That's so cool of you, princess."

She sat and invited him to do so, he followed. They restec side by side watching the stars and the night lights of Paris.

"So, how about you?" She asked, "How are things with ladybug?."

Chat was a good friend, and he'd helped her not as Ladybug but as Marinette when she needed someone to talk to. Maybe now she could do the same for him.

"Not any better than you actually." He answered, cheerless. "She's in love with someone else too."

He didn't know that Ladybug was the same girl who had just told him that she was in the process of moving on. But that didn't change anything between them, though. Chat didn't deserve to be played with that way. If he was going to win her heart, only time and fate could tell. Either way, Marinette couldn't help but wonder if maybe, someday, she could consider him as more than a friend.

"I know it's difficult for you, having to keep your identities secret."

"Yeah" he admitted, "But it's only her name, I've fought beside her for years now. I would say I know her pretty well."

"But do you though?"

"What?" Chat asked confused, he turned to look at her, and saw her looking down at her hands.

"I mean, what if she's different like a civilian?" She started, "It's easy to act all brave and confident when you've got superpowers and a mask. But when it's just you...everything is scarier."

Chat found himself thinking about this, for some reason he'd never considered that maybe Ladybug acted differently on her daily life.

"Are you the same everyday with your family and friends and as Chat noir?" She asked, turning to look at him.

How had he never thought of this? He wasn't anywhere near similar to Chat noir as Adrien, he didn't act the same, he didn't speak the same. He was just different, then how could he expect ladybug to be the same in her two forms?

"Do you think you could recognise Ladybug if you met her out of costume?." She was looking at him intensely, curiously, waiting for his answer.

"I...I..." Chat wanted so badly to say yes, without a doubt, without hesitation. He tried so hard to think of an argument, but he couldn't find one. She was right. "No, I don't think so."

"Then how can you love someone that you don't know?"

For once, chat was speechless. He didn't know what to aswer. Or worse, he didn't like the only answer he could think of.

"I guess you don't." He concluded.

They stayed silent for a few seconds, each one lost in their own thoughts.

"Wow, you really are an eye-opener Marinette." He said. Marinette was scared that he was mad at her, that she'd been too harsh, but he just smiled at her sadly. "Now we both oficially got our hearts broken."

"At least we're not alone." She smiled.

He looked at her. Really looked at her. Her big blue eyes sparkling, reflecting the night sky, full of kindness, compassion, beauty. Her smile, so warm, could make anyone melt. Right in this moment, Adrien thought it was the first time he could actually see Marinette.

She must have felt the intensity of his gaze, because she lowered her look, blushing a little.

"You know, just when you arrived I was going to grab some cookies from the oven." She said, standing up. "I can bring them if you want to stay a little longer."

He smiled.

"I'd like that, princess."


End file.
